Charles Hopkins with a 15lb 2oz cracker to win the Westlow shield match today.Well done Charles top angling showing the seniors how to do it!! 15/04/18

Once again westlow mere 10 lb Friday and after two hours wasted Carsington waters back to westlow mere and this pig 15 lbs 8 oz 9 stunning fully find bows wot a top fisherie thanks to all off you. Eddie Guest. 30/03/2018

A cracking Tiger Trout for Chris Ector at Westlow Mere. Cris had 19 All good sized Trout.

11lb 8oz for Brian bedrock at Westlow today 14/04/18

15lb rainbow for Mike Richardson at Westlow. 14/04/18

Two cracking fish for Lynda Ector at Westlow mere.

“If you’re too busy to go fishin’, you’re too busy.”
Buddy Ebsen

Frank Sawyer Tying a Pheasant Tail Nymph

Frank Sawyer catches Trout

Tying Frank Sawyer's Killer Bug with Davie McPhail

Trout Taking a Mayfly Sawyer Nymphs.

Satisfaction of catching a fish on your own fly.

There is something very satisfying about catching a fish on something that you made with your own two hands.

Thank you for this opportunity to share a few of my favourite flies
I started fly fishing well over 30 years ago and only started tying because I could not buy the fly’s I wanted.
They were always too big or not the right colour, or just not what I had in my head.
My main tactic is washing line or straight-line buzzers and my choice reflects this.

So I decided to share only the fly’s I actually fish with, I tend to fish small and close too natural as possible.
So I tend to stick to buzzers and a few small nymphs and the odd dry fly
I'am by no means a pro tier, I just love to experiment and it gives me hours of fun.

Click images for closer look.

Box of Buzzers.

Straight in with a few of my buzzers, hook Hanak hb310bl 14's, thread black vevus 14/0 a simple silver fine wire rib and the cheeks area product called hends cheek normally in .80 I would normally tie these in 14's to 18's and finish with deer creek fine UV resin. I like them plain simple and skinny helps with depth control the orange and the white cheeks tend to be the staple fly on my cast and have produced fish on every fishery I have been to

Black & Red Pheasant Tail.

these are 2 of my go to patterns especially early season hooks are the hanak 310bl and the fly box comp barbless hw.
A very easy pattern to tie, black pheasant tail body and thorax cover a fine red wire rib and red ibis thorax the thread again is a vevus 14/0 and black cock hackle in the tail. I use a few variants of these in olive too and swap the thorax for eggstacy nano in a few colours. The nymph style is more for a retrieve when they are chasing nymphs, I roped the ibis on these normally I wouldn’t as it adds a little movement

Buzzer (Lemon).

Another hanak 310bl hook in 14# textream thread from fly box in lemon, a fine green wire rib (hends) pheasant tail thorax cover and vicuna dubbing thorax, note the thread is lemon but magic when varnished the colour deepens , I would normally shake up the thorax with different shades of the vicuna olive dubbing , this style works well and seems to be my go to fly for bigger browns

Black Foam Emerger.

Again a simple but effective pattern again hanak 310bl hook in 14's black vevus 14/0 thread and a hends red fine wire rib and vicuna black dubbing thorax and a 3mm foam dowel , I tend to cut the foam back hard once I’m using them just enough to keep them afloat and so they sit in the surface, I like the thorax cutting through the surface film, again have them in yellow owl and olive , and they work when they are sipping and you cannot connect with a pure dry fly.

Sedgehog.

A little Sedgehog my style, hook is a fulling mill ultimate dry fly hook again on 14's, piric cock hackle tail , another darker shade of vicuna dubbing with a fine green wire rib 3 or 4 cdc feathers and a deer hair wing and vevus 14/0 olive thread it’s a great little pattern and will float all day , I use the vicuna dubbing on my dry’s as its dubbed so fine it holds very little water , you can also leave a little longer head on the deer hair if you want to pull it across the surface it makes a nice little wake

Ginger Quill Emerger.

hook is a temico clinkhammer hook in 14# veniards ginger quill body finished with deer creek fine UV resin again another vicuna fiery brown dubbing , a poly yarn post and a Metz grizzel hackle , I also use this in a few versions of black and olive down to a 16's.

Hi Jim
No relation to Malcolm, but had a good look at the web site looks fantastic, will be coming soon.
Clifford Greenhalgh

Hi Jim It was a pleasure to spend some time with you on Sunday. I've been using your dubbing today and will be trying the flies on Thursday.

John Walker

Great to see you at the North Wales Country Show. Learned a lot and had a very pleasurable experience all the Guides were going round discussing your demonstrations, well done.

John Mercer.

What a great web site loads of information I like the idea of you having a league table of Midlands fly fisheries. Keep up the good work not many fly fishing sites about that don't want to sell you something!

Jack Right.

Fisherman's Prayer
I pray that I may live to fish
Until my dying day.
And when it comes to my last cast,
I then most humbly pray:
When in the Lord's great landing net
And peacefully asleep
That in His mercy I be judged
Big enough to keep.

- Unknown?

The Original Westlow Mere Web Site.

TEL: 01260270012

Rod Average: 4.48 week ending: 15/03/2019

Next Westlow Mere League fishing Match Sunday 31st March.

Comment.

This morning at Westlow Mere 21/03/2019 just thought I would pop down to try a new floating line out and what an experience!

Jack Vallis was there and I lost count at 14 of the number off fish he had, including this monster and I was only there a couple of hours.

Jack was fly tyer of the month for January; this just shows both the quality and effectiveness of the flies he ties. The fly that was most productive click on fly of the month tag top right of this page.

1. Points won for each match.2. £3 pool money.3. League table.4. Final match lots of prize money.

Trophy and prize for overall competition winner.

Restrictive rules are kept to a minimum and the competition allows all flies permitted by the fishery.

Next Match 31st March.

Westlows Aeration. (21/11/2018)

I think everyone would agree that 2018 was an exceptional year with high temperatures prevailing for many weeks, making fishing of any kind difficult if not impossible throughout the summer!

So at Westlow Mere we have taken the decision to undertake a major development and implement Aerators into the deeps. We have installed 3 compressors which will feed air through a network of pipes around the site, this air is fed through diffusers in 9 positions in the lake, bubbles lift water from the bottom of the lake to the surface where it absorbs oxygen, this process also mixes the warmer water at the surface with the colder water from the lake bed, by constantly turning the water over in this way we create a better overall oxygen level and a more even temperature, this will not only be beneficial to the fish, but means more natural food and fish that feed harder and for longer, thus producing better growth rates and better catch rates. .
Another big advantage with this system is it can be used to de-ice the lake in winter.However, each Angler must play his or her part in maintaining the correct stocking levels for the lake by taking fish, catching good fish means maintaining an excellent environment for fish to thrive.

Stocking today with a selection of large trout.

One of the fish Stocked 19lb fighting fit Rainbow Trout.

Westlow is Fishing its head off, great work Johhny Oliver. See below!

One of 20 fish I had at westlow mere today (my first time)
Returned to fight another day, 19/03/2018 Jack Vallis
John estimated it as 12.5lb
Cracking days fishing, blue Flash Damsel doing most of the damage!

Paul Wilson
10 March at 19:41 ·
First time fishing west low mere today! What a day 22 to the net, 3 over 6lb, 1 over 10lb, and to cap it off a 17lb 2oz. Cracking lake and run well, thank to all especially Eddie Guest.

Another cracker from Westlow today 13/03/2018

10 lb 4 oz one of two doubles today only fished 6 hours but I had 22 well done westlow mere just gets better and better. Eddie Guest 10/03/2018

10lb 4oz rainbow from Westlow today 07/03/2018

Large Rainbow 11lb 4oz from Westlow 20/02.2018

7lb 10oz tiger from Westlow today 20/02/2018

Great fish one of 22 fish for Eddie today at Westlow. But paddy caught 34 top angling lads

Great fish ed first wild brown this year

Another big fish for Chris Ector. 11/2/2018

Fly used Green Snake 8lb 10oz, not the snake the fish.

Unbelievable day fishing at west low mere today 34 fish lost 12 at the net stunning fisherie gin clear water sight fishing with dry fly took six the rest came to buzzers and my take on the apache thanks to all the staff

fishing 20/1/2018 at Westlow Mere 32 fish to the boat lost loads at the net well done David Tompkins 22 off the bank top man. Eddie Guest.

Click image bellow for Video

Stocking

Cracking day in the float tube

today at Westlow Mere just outside Congleton. Into Fish from the off and caught steady in the five hours managing 38 to the

tube with some quality trout in the mix.. Lost a good few mainly to double hookups so fished single fly for most of the day on the lure rod but did catch a good few on the nymph rod with buzzer & db’s.. NW Nomads's

Westlow Mere is a water run for Fly Fishing by Fly Fishing enthusiasts with friendly service and good advice, the best areas to fish, flies to use and the best method to employ.

Blithfield Reservoir Trout Fishery added an event.
The 2019 Season will start for Permit Holders only on 14th March
For non-Permits and Syndicate Members we open on 21st March

Stocks Reservoir.

THE FISH ARE AWESOME THIS YEAR. THERE ARE LOADS OF MASSIVE BLUES, RAINBOWS AND BROWNS READY TO TEST YOUR TACKLE!

Stocks Reservoir re-opens on Saturday February 23rd
Stocks Reservoir will be fully restocked with 4000 fighting fit rainbows and reopen for business on Saturday February 23rd. The rainbows are in fantastic condition and amongst them will be some cracking specimens that, if hooked, will run you ragged. We are also releasing more prize fugitive trout than ever before. These prize fish carry bounties on their heads and can earn their captors very generous rewards!

This week on Clywedog

Report to.

2019 Opening day 7th March bookings from the new year

DRAYCOTE, EYEBROOK, THORNTON, FOREMARK

Happy New Year to our customers

Dates for your diaries,

Thornton opens 1st February call the lodge 01530 230807 or email lodge@flyfishthornton.co.uk to book boats.

Draycote & Foremark 1st March with Eyebrook opening 3rd March

We have an online store www.flyfishstore.co.uk during the next few weeks we will be adding items of fishing tackle to our Sales & Clearance page, to visit the current items on the sales page click onto
http://www.flyfishstore.co.uk/shop/category/sale-items/

This week limited quantities of SAGE reels on Sale

Eyebrook Reservoir

Telephone Number: 01536 770264 lodge@flyfisheyebrook.co.uk

Opening Weekend Rod Av 6.8

Despite a “challenging” opening weekend weather wise for anglers at Eyebrook, excellent catches were recorded on Friday and on Saturday and Sunday when the conditions were favourable. Opening day on the Friday was probably the best day weather wise with the boats being able to venture onto the water and the moderate winds allowing the bank anglers to fish the majority of the available bank space. Saturday and Sunday saw very high winds which prevented the boats from going out although the wind direction was kinder on Saturday and some good catches were recorded from the bank. Sunday was much harder with the wind veering around all day and with some heavy overnight rain coloured water was blown onto the dam near the lodge which had been a prime spot on Saturday.

The forecast for this week looks extremely variable with predictions of heavy rain and strong winds some days so as usual we would recommend that anglers visit our face book page or contact the lodge for an update.

65 anglers fished the opening day and enjoyed some excellent sport with a rod average of nearly 7. The most productive areas being the netted bank, the Bell, Dogwoods bay and the Dam wall. Best fish recorded was a 4 and a quarter pound rainbow by Mr Farmer on a black and green buzzer which was one of a catch in excess of 50 from the dam wall. The Murphy brothers took over 40 fish to their boat whilst Mr Clarke took over 30 from the bank. Several pike anglers were out in the boats and had a lot of sport with Jacks, but no big pike were recorded.

Saturday saw the winds pick up sufficiently to curtail any hope of boat fishing, but the wind direction was kind and the bank anglers enjoyed some excellent sport for a daily rod average of just under 9. Lots of fish were taken from the dam and along the Leicestershire bank by the Hawthorns, the Bell and Dogwood. Mr Key took over 20 to Tequila blobs as did Mr Pym who used a combination of a black lure and a pink buzzer. Mr Armitage took 15 using a combination of black and green and white and green lures. Meanwhile the Murphy brothers fished from the bank this time but again landed numerous fish.
More Here.

Weekly Rod Average;

Draycote Water

weekly report week ending 10th March 2019

Weekly Rod Average: 4.15

Draycote Water weekly report week ending 10th March 2019
Telephone Number 01788 812018
A week plagued by high winds, saw the boats cancelled 4 days this week. Although while the boats may not have been able to get out on the water the bank anglers have been enjoying some good sport with good catches from several spots across the reservoir.
A tricky start to the week with strong south westerly winds that saw he occasional strong straight westly gust meant that the boat anglers really struggled to fish in the areas that had been so prolific over the opening weekend. The issue then being that once some fish had been located the strong winds meant it was a very difficult task to control the flies and the boat in order to boat any great catches. On the bank Rainbow Corner proved to be the best sport with season ticket holder Michael Ravenscroft landing 3 in just a couple of hours before the winds blew him off. Michaels successful tactic was to use a floating line and a small black and green. The same windy conditions caused issue once more on Tuesday with the high winds the previous day causing the natural bank to colour up meaning that the bank anglers found it a struggle to tempt some willing trout to the net. However, out in the boat Steve Styles fished Rainbow corner for the last hour and half. While he only boated one, he missed 10 other takes using an intermediate line and a black booby.
Blustery, wet & wild would be 3 good words to describe Wednesday, these conditions meant that all apart from one angler opted to stay indoors and take shelter from the weather. However, Mick Cronin was rewarded for braving the elements landing 7. With 5 coming from the overflow and 2 from the Swan’s nest in Toft, Mick found this fish wanting a hot head damsel fished on an intermediate the key to landing fish on a challenging day.
No Boats out Thursday due to the strong south westerly winds with gusts at over 30mph coming through at times. Despite the conditions the lake fished to a 7 fish per man rod average with all in attendance catching. John Dickens found some shelter in Dunn’s making the most of it to land 9. John found the fish wanted a black and green gold head with black buzzers on a floater. Also, out on the water Peter Elliot & Lee Patten landed 13 & 20 fish each. The pair moved around the lake taking fish at the old pipe in Biggin Bay, Dunn’s and Rainbow Corner. Using a mix of tactics from black and green tadpoles and midge tips and floaters to washing lined buzzers.

I have taken the difficult decision to terminate our fishing lease at Foremark, we will therefore not be opening for the 2019 season.

We have taken the decision due to the falling attendances at this venue during 2016, 2017 and especially during 2018

Severn Trent agents are I’m advised talking to potential interested third parties, when I know any further information I will make it available.

Ifor Jones

Thornton

Rod Average 5.9

Week ending 11th March 2019

Tel 01530 230807

Strong winds at times last week kept the boats on the pontoon and made bank fishing near impossible, however on the better days we enjoyed excellent spring sport with the rod average for the week a respectable 5.9

Friday produced the best days fishing Richard Price caught 14 on damsel patterns, Jamie Scott fished damsels, cut throat cat and dancer patterns for his 19 trout with Neil Shilton taking to his float tube and recording 14 trout. Ricky Cotterill and S Wilson caught well into double figures with the damsel pattern again being the fly that was working.

Some fish are starting to fall to buzzers and crunchers with Ian Coe, Peter Wrigley using them to catch their fish

Pick up a Loyalty Card at Thornton, Draycote and Eyebrook lodges, once you have purchased 10 of the same day permit you receive your 11th visit free, our loyalty card can be used at any of our three reservoirs.